Greater New Orleans

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., center, is blasting the Obama White House for its statement of opposition to a bill now on the Senate floor to delay most premium increases resulting from the 2012 Biggert-Waters law.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., Tuesday sharply criticized what she called the Obama administration's "short-sighted, misguided and irresponsible" opposition to legislation delaying flood insurance premium increases for four years.

Though the statement of administration policy didn't include a veto threat, Landrieu said the White House's position, "threatens the very foundation of the National Flood Insurance Program and will only saddle taxpayers with higher costs when disasters strike."

Just before the White House policy statement was released the Senate voted 86-13 to begin debate on legislation that would delay most increases resulting from the 2012 Biggert-Waters Act so, sponsors say, FEMA can complete an affordability study and Congress can work to insure that policyholders don't face unaffordable flood insurance premiums. The bill's sponsors said people will be priced out of the flood insurance program if premium increases contemplated by FEMA under Biggert-Waters are implemented -- putting taxpayers on the line to help out homeowners devastated by future hurricanes and storms.

"How this Administration thinks it can 'ensure that economically distressed policyholders are not unduly burdened' before it completes the affordability study or certifies that its maps are accurate and reliable is completely mind-boggling," Landrieu said. "That is exactly the kind of backward and upside-down thinking that got us into this mess in the first place."

In its statement Monday night, The White House expressed concern about
the fiscal impact of the delays on the National Flood Insurance
Program.

"Delaying implementation of these reforms would further
erode the financial position of the National Flood Insurance Program,
which is already $24 billion in debt," the Office of Management and
Budget said on behalf of the White House. "This delay would also reduce
FEMA's ability to pay future claims made by all policyholders."

Former
Sen. J. Bennett Johnston, D-La., who knows a little bit about presidential
maneuvering, said he doesn't see the White House statement blocking the
legislation.

"It's
not a setback. If it costs money, they (Office of Management and Budget aides) have
to be against it," Johnston said. But they know how to issue a veto threat, and
there is none here. They wouldn't dare do that to Mary in an election year."

Johnston
also suggests the bill will also pass the House, despite opposition from some
influential Republicans, possibly with a modification such as a three-year
delay in rate hikes instead of the four-year delay in the current Senate bill. "They
don't want to kill their own Senate candidate," Johnston said of Rep. Bill
Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, the GOP's top challenger to Landrieu.

The Biggert-Waters law was passed by large margins, and won the votes of every Louisiana congressional member. But news of large rate increases facing their constituents has led to efforts to at least delay the increases so Congress can come up with a permanent fix. Landrieu, who is up for re-election in 2014, said she voted for Biggert-Waters because it was incorporated into a large omnibus bill that included legislation to funnel Clean Water Act fines from the 2010 BP oil spill to the Gulf Coast -- potentially worth billions of dollars to the state.

Still, she spoke out against the bill during Senate debate, warning Congress would have to reconsider the issue soon to fix the obvious problems with the law -- mainly, in her view, its failure to consider affordability a key factor in whether people will sign up for flood insurance.

"I know the President is coming to the Capitol tonight to talk about expanding opportunities for the middle class," Landrieu said. "He can start by joining our strong, deep and broad coalition's efforts to support the millions of families and businesses that are on the edge of losing everything they have worked for through no fault of their own."

The Obama administration statement said that "FEMA is working diligently with the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a study on insurance affordability for economically distressed policyholders."

"The Administration recognizes that many policyholders may be challenged financially by the new rates and remains committed to working with the Congress to develop approaches that ensure economically distressed policyholders are not unduly burdened while maintaining the financial stability of the NFIP," the statement said.

The statement didn't express outright opposition to the legislation, as some previous statements on other bills have.

Cassidy, Landrieu's leading opponent in the 2014 Senate race, also criticized
the White House statement.

"It is disappointing that the President does not
understand that how FEMA is interpreting Biggert-Waters is contributing to the
unaffordability of flood insurance," Cassidy said. "Millions of homeowners, including many
Louisianans, are suffering due to FEMA's implementation of the Biggert-Waters
Act."

Congress recently passed a bill sponsored by
Cassidy that delays some of the increase through Sept. 30, 2014. But he says a
more comprehensive bill is needed, particularly to help people who are faced
with immediate increases if they sell their homes. It has made some homes unsellable, according to realtors.

Michael Hecht, president and CEO of Greater New
Orleans, Inc. and a leader of the nationwide Coalition for Sustainable Flood Insurance,
also criticized the White House opposition.

"On the
eve of the State of the Union, an address that will reportedly focus on 'the
middle class, the economy and economic fairness,' it is inexplicable that the
Administration and FEMA have come out with a statement opposing common-sense
delays to out-of-control flood insurance premiums," Hecht said.

The Senate could vote on the bill delaying premium increases for four years, and several amendments, including one by Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., by Wednesday night or Thursday morning. His amendment would eliminate the four-year delay in rate hikes, and instead phase in rate increases at 25 percent of existing rates each year for four years. Under Biggert-Waters, the annual increases are either 20 or 25 percent of the difference between the current rate and the anticipated new rate resulting from the Biggert-Waters changes.

"The flood insurance program is $27 billion in debt," Toomey said
Monday. "I recognize that some flood insurance rate increases under
Biggert-Waters could be painful to certain homeowners. That's why I
suggest a slower phase-in for rate increases triggered by a home sale
and for properties most dramatically affected by remapping."

Landrieu used her remarks on the Senate floor, to say that Pennsylvania is having more flood insurance remaps, 1,425, than any other state -- meaning his constituents will be among the most impacted by Biggert-Waters.

Bruce Alpert is a Washington-based reporter for NOLA.Com/Times-Picayune.